LIVING WITH HISTORY

Freshman lawmaker Rep. Doug Okuniewicz has launched his first hot topic piece of legislation — preserving Idaho's historic monuments.

Initially under HB 65 but revised under RS 283999, Okuniewicz's legislation would require municipalities or groups to get permission from the Legislature to remove a monument or memorial dedicated to an American historical figure. Once approval is granted by 50.5% of the body, a concurrent resolution would be given, and removal could occur. 

After hearing concerns during HB 65's initial introduction, Okuniewicz, R-Hayden, amended the legislation to clarify that municipalities or groups would need the support of lawmakers only if they were planning on permanently removing or decommissioning a piece. Moving or doing restoration procedures on a memorial or monument would not require legislative action.

"I appreciate the work that the representative has done in working with the committee to address our concerns. I do feel that it is important that we preserve our history and not set an unrealistic standard that anything imperfect must be erased," said Rep. Julianne Young, R-Blackfoot. "Our history is there to learn from, and we learn the most often from our faults and failings."

The change was in response to many lawmakers and groups that contended HB 65 overstepped local government control. 

"There are a lot of people in there that I think in general are going to lean toward local control," Okuniewicz said. "I can't envision a legislative body that would tell a community, 'tough.' I think what will end up coming out of this is we take the memorial and put it somewhere else, where it is wanted."

The bill had been in the back of Okuniewicz's mind for some time, he said, and had been working on it before the session. What put him over the hill, he said, was a recent story about a San Francisco school district that made national headlines for voting to rename 42 schools associated with the names of people linked to slavery or colonization, including George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

"I understand the arguments that folks are saying, sensitivity and issues like that, but folks need to understand life isn't perfect," Okuniewicz said. "We don't live in a Disney film. People are people, and we don't see in hindsight. No one supports slavery now because we know it is a terrible thing."

Recently, news organizations and human interest groups have criticized the bill for its overbearing power on local decision making and what they perceive as its insensitivity following the Black Lives Matter movement. Lauren Bramwell, a policy strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union, spoke in opposition of HB 65.

"While states throughout the country empower localities to remove statues or rename public spaces that glorify and memorialize white supremacy, this legislation removes that power," Bramwell said. "This bill unnecessarily constructs tremendous barriers for petitioners and local governments who wish to move or rename a public monument."

Bramwell cited several confederate-related or offensive areas in Idaho, like Robert E. Lee Creek, the Robert E. Lee Campground, and Chinese Peak in Bannock County. Members of the committee questioned Bramwell to support the BLM movement and the unpermitted removal of monuments during protests.

"This has been a response of a racial reckoning in our country," Bramwell said. "We should be empowering communities to petition local governments to at least have a conversation concerning historical monuments."

To Okuniewicz, the bill is a way of "providing a buffer against the so-called cancel-culture" that he believes is plaguing society today. In the most basic sense, Okuniewicz described the bill as another "check in our constitutional system of checks and balances." 

"We can't ignore everything the country was built on. There is a middle ground in there," Okuniewicz said. "It's important. People are not perfect, and folks need to stop thinking they are. Or when they find out they're not, they can't banish them from history or public view. That doesn't seem right to me."